Grass-catcher for lawn-mowers.



C. S. BONHAM.

GRASS CATCHER POR LAWN MOWERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17. 1911.

Patented June 11, 1912.

@Dummy/ 0' o t ww-Mofa @my W CHARLES s. BONHAM, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

GRASS-CATCHER FOR LAWN-FLOWERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led July 17, 1911.

Patented June 11,1912'. Serial No. 638,869.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. BONHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grass-Catchers for Lawn-Mowers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appert-ains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in grass catching attachments for lawn mowers, my object being to equip the grass catcher with a sort of shield adapted to partly close the front part of the catcher to preventthe grass from falling out under certain circumstances during the grass-cutting operation.

It very frequently happens that, in cutting grass, it is necessary to use the mower on a comparatively steep terrace, thus throwing the catcher into such a position that, under ordinary circumstances, more or less of the grass will fall out of the catcher, making it necessary to use a rake afterward. My improvement is intended to overcome this difficulty and consists of a sort of shield normally occupying` an inwardly-inclined position, and, as illustrated in the drawing, at an angle of about forty-five degrees (415), whereby the grass is allowed to enter the catcher above the shield and fall down in the rear thereof, the shield preventing it from falling out under the circumstances heretofore named, and making it practicable to load the catcher more heavily than is otherwise possible. By virtue of this feature, the catcher can be used much longer without emptying than would be possible with the old form of construction. This shield, while normally occupying an inwardly-inclined position, as K stated, will readily fall outwardly to a position in the plane of the bottom of the catcher after the latter has been detached and tilted to a suitable position for discharging its contents, since the shield is hinged to the forward end of the bottom of the catcher, stops being employed to support the shield in its normal position, as heretofore explained-*that is to say, in a, position at an angle of about forty-five degrees (45).

heretofore This angle, of course, may be varied as circumstances may require, but it is, of course, necessary that there be a sufficient opening at the front of the catcher and above the shield to permit the grass to enter freely. In order that the shield may not serve as an obstruction to the entrance of the grass to the catcher the upper portion of the shield may, if desired, be formed of a coarse screen sufIicie-ntly open to allow the grass to readily pass therethrough. Any suitable specific construction for this shield may be employed whether the same be made entirely of wire and comparatively open, or of a piece of sheet metal. Ordinarily, a piece of sheet metal or an entirely closed shield will be practicable, particularly if the user of the mower runs the same at a considerable speed, thus causing the grass to ily rearwardly with considerable impetus, causing it to pass above the shield before falling.

I-Iaving briefly Outlined my improved construction, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure l is a central vertical section, taken through a lawn mower equipped with a grass catcher having my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view in detail of my improved shield. Fig. 3 is a central section, taken through a grass catcher shown in detail, the same being provided with my improvement, the parts being shown on a scale somewhat greater than in Fig.. 1. Fig. Llis a top plan view of the same. In both Figs. 3 and 4;, the gras-s retaining shield is shown in two positions, the 'full line position being its normal position when in use, and the dotted line position being that which it occupies during the emptying of the catcher.

The same reference characters indicate the same partsin all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate a lawn mower of ordinary construction, the same being equipped with projections 6 on opposite sides, arranged to receive eyes 7 formed at the lower extremities of depending rods 8, whose upper extremities are connected, as shown at 9, with the forward part of the top portion of the grass catcher. The projections 6, by virtue of their engagement with the rods 8, serve to connect the grass catcher with the mower 5 in front, the

catcher being further connected with the. mower by means of a rod 10 having its extremities hook-shaped, centrally connected with the rear upper part of the catcher at one extremity, and with the handle 1'2 of-..

arranged'and constructed as to cause the shield to occupy any desired position of inclination. The position shown in the drawing, whereby theshield occupies an angle of approximately ,forty-five degrees (450) has been found,m actual practice, to give good results, though it is evident thatV a position ofthe shield, where the angle is either greater or less than forty-five degrees (450) would also give satisfactory results. Care,

Vof course, must nbe taken to so arrange andV construct the shield that it shall not present an obstruction to the entrance of the grass to the catcher, while, at the same time, care must be taken to so position the shield Y that it shall prevent the escape of the grass at the front part of the catcher during the operation of the machine.'

As illustrated in the drawing, the shield is composed of a sheet metal member 17, and a wire member 18, the wire member constituting the upper part of the shield and being curved slightly downwardly from the plane of the part 17 to facilitate the entrance of the grass to the catcher, when the l shield is in use.

The lower part 17 of the shield carries the rod 14, to which are applied a number of hinged members 16 which may be riveted or otherwisesuitably secured tothe forward Y edge of the bottom 21 of the catcher, the

hinged members 16 being made in the form of clips composed of' parallel members adaped to slip over the forward edge of the 1 p bottom of the catcher. These hinged clips are provided with openings 22 through which rivets 19, or other suit-able fastening devices, may be passed after the clipshave beenwapplied to the bottom of the catcher, as

` heretofore explained.

It will be understood that, when the hinge clips are applied to the bottom of the catcher, the clips remain stationary, while the shield is allowed to turn freely on the ,A clips, the wire'member 14 being `journaled in the closed Aends of the clip members. 6

From the foregoing description, the use ofy my VVimprovement will be readily understood. When the grass catcher is in use, and the mower is in operation, the grass, as it leaves the cutting member of the mower, will pass rearwardly in a sort of stream, the vgrass in this event assuming approximately the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Under these circumstances, as illustrated in the drawing, a portion of the grass will pass through the openings 2O in the upper wire of the shield. Of course, this shield may be relatively shorter't-han illustrated in the drawing and formed of a closed plate, the arrangement being.V such that the grass must pass over the upper edge of the shield when the latter is in use, or, as heretofore explained, the shieldy may be of such construction that it will be practicable for the grass, as it flies from the cutting member of the mower, to pass'through the shield at all parts thereof. This construction would be practicable, while, at the same time, the shield would form a dam toV prevent the grass frommoving forwardly out of the catcher duringV the Voperation of the mower, under the circumstances hereto- Y fore described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A grass catcher for lawn mowers equipped with a shield applied to theV forward extremity of the catcher, the said shield being hinged to the catcher and normally occupying an upwardly and rearwardly-inclined position, theA shield being so located that it shall form a dam to prevent the escape of the grass, while, at the same time, allowingV the grass to pass rearwardly from the cutter to enter the catcher above and through the shield, substantially as described.

2. A grass catcher Vequipped at its forward extremity with a hinged shield, provided with stopsY on its inner surface adapted to support the shield in an upwardly andY rearwardly-inclined position, the 'shield'bef ing adapted, when thrown forwardly, to

occupy a plane approximately the same as' that of the bottom of the catcher, whereby the grass is allowed to pass freely'out'of the forward extremity of the catcher.

v3. A grass catcher' for lawn mowers,

equipped with a hinged shield, Ywhich* Vis normally rearwardly' andv upwardly inclined, the shield being freely movable on its hinge and provided with stops adapted'tc support it in its position of rearward inclination, when the catcher is in use, the shield being arranged to swing forwardly to occupyra planer approximately the same as that of the bot'- tom of the catcher, lsubstantially as Vdescribed. i A

4. A grass catcher for lawn mowers, equipped with a shield hinged at the forward edge of the same and normallyl occupying an upwardly and rearwardly inclined position, means for supporting the shield in position to prevent the escape of grass while the catcher is in use, and at the same time allowing the grass to enter the catcher freely as it lies from the cutter, the shield being` free to open forwardly to permit the discharge of grass, substantially as described.

5. A grass catcher for lawn mowers equipped with a shield hinged at the forward edge of the same, means for supporting the shield in position to prevent the es cape of grass while the catcher is in use and at the same time allowing the grass to enter the catcher freely therethrough as it flies from the cutter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES S. BONHAM.

Witnesses: o

EDGAR N. GREEN, F. E. BOWEN.

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